Strawberry Trifle

BY Sally Buffington
March 16, 2022

Breakfasts

Photography by Sally Buffington

Prep Time	COOK TIME	SERVE
40 minutes	45 minutes

This strawberry trifle might just be the most elegant dessert you’ll ever make

Jump To Recipe

Trifle—a fruit lasagna you build by layering is also infinitely flexible, and like lasagna, all the work is done ahead of time. Enjoy the “Ooh”s and “Ahh”s as you present it in a deep clear glass bowl, one with a pedestal if possible. And what a lovely way to use fresh Carlsbad strawberries or any other beautiful summer fruit you choose.

Ingredients

Custard

2 cups milk
6 egg yolks
¼ cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Pinch of salt

Remaining Ingredients

2–3 cups strawberries, sliced attractively
6 whole, perfect strawberries for decorating the top
2 cups of cake, cut in crouton-sized pieces about ¾-inch on each side
½–1 cup cream sherry or Marsala, sprinkled over cake cubes
1 cup whipped cream for interior layers, ½ cup for top
¼ cup sliced almonds

Instructions

Custard
1. Scald milk in double boiler. Beat egg yolks with sugar and salt, then stir in a small amount of the hot milk.
2. Then combine all of egg mixture with remaining hot milk.
3. Stirring intermittently, cook over simmering water until thickened and smooth.
4. Stir in vanilla, then chill for an hour before using.
Assembly
1. Spread a layer of cake cubes in bottom of bowl, then cover with a layer of strawberries.
2. Now pour over a third of the custard sauce, then the whipped cream. Keep repeating layers.
3. Finish the top with whipped cream and sprinkled sliced almonds, and garnish the center with 6 perfect, whole berries.

Sally Buffington

Sally Buffington is a writer, photographer, and classically trained musician. From her home in La Jolla, California, she often migrates back to memories in Massachusetts—especially her spiritual homeland of Cape Cod. Her memoir, A Place Like This: Finding Myself in a Cape Cod Cottage, is her first book.